THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution &

Progressive Era

Steel & Oil

■ 1950’s Pittsburg became the nation’s steel-

making capital, because oil and steel were

being shipped from there.

– Bessemer Process making steel cheaper

■ 1859 drilling into the ground discovered oil.

– Oil industries then figured out a way to

make it useful for MANY things.

Railroad Booms

■ Railroads fuels industrial growth…..

– Thousands of miles of track & railcars

would also be designed as a luxury means

of transportation….AKA people spend

more money.

– Bigger railroads bought up smaller lines.

■ Rival rail lines made agreements to set rates

to ship goods…

– High rates angered small farmers, who

relied on the railroads to get their goods to

the market……why?

Inventions ■ Thomas Edison invented…..Lightbulb!

■ 1882 he opened the first electrical power plant.

– Supplying electricity that lit up homes, powered city

streetcars and enabled factories to replace steam

engines.

■ Improving communication was vital for the survival of

American businesses.

– 1866 Cyrus Field had an underwater telegraph line laid

across the Atlantic Ocean which sped up

communications to Europe.

■ Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 sent the first

telephone message.

– 1885 more than 300,000 phones had been

sold.

– Bell also organized over 100 local companies

into the giant American Telephone and

Telegraph Company…. “AT&T”

THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION

Section 2: Big Business,

Politics & Organized Labor

Conducting Business■ Entrepreneur: someone who sets up new businesses to

make a profit.

■ To raise money and capital to spend, these men created

new ways to organize business.

– Capital: funds that are raised to promote and keep the

business running…..money you need to fund your business.

The Corporation

■ Corporations: businesses owned by many investors.

■ Corporations raise large amounts of capital by selling stocks,

or shares of companies.

– Stockholders receive money from profitable stocks, they

risked only the amount of money THEY invest.

Growth of Big Business■ Entrepreneurs formed giant corporations and

monopolies.

■ Monopoly: is a company that controls most or all

business in an industry.

Carnegie

■ Andrew Carnegie, was a poor Scottish immigrant who

worked his way up in the railroad business.

■ 1892 Carnegie combined his businesses into the giant

Carnegie Steel Company

Rockefeller■ Invested in the oil refinery and used his profits to buy

other oil companies.

■ 1882, Rockefeller ended competition by forming Standard Oil Trust.

– Trust: is a group of corporations run by a single board of directors.

Social Darwinism

■ “Survival of the fittest” to human affairs.

– The “strongest” company will prevail, while the weaker ones will be bought out or die out…..

■ Big business leaders used Social Darwinism to justify efforts to limit competition.

Negative Changes in the Workplace

■ Once industries grew, the positive relationships between

bosses and workers stops.

■ The birth of the first “sweatshops”…..

– manufacturing workshop where workers have long

hours and in bad conditions.

– Workers were mainly women

■ Children also worked in factories;

– many did not go to school

– With no education there was no way for these kids to

get out of the jobs they had.

Dangerous Working Conditions

■ Breathing in fibers or dust…textile workers would have lung cancer.

■ Steelworkers risking death or disfiguration from the hot metal being used.

■ Employers did not pay for their workers if they were injured on the job…..(health insurance was nonexistent)

■ New York…March 1911

– Fire broke out in Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

– Workers were racing to the exits but the doors were locked.

– Workers piled up against the doors and people were crushed to death. Others jumped to their death out of the windows.

Organizing Workers Knights of Labor

■ 1869 Philadelphia clothing workers formed a union,

called the “Knights of Labor.”

■ Union’s started to use violence….May 4th, Chicago

Haymarket Square.

– Bomb exploded, killing 7 policemen, and the police

started shooting into the crowd.

■ Collective Bargaining: unions negotiate with management

for workers as a group.

■ 1886, American Federation of Labor (AFL), which

replaced the Knights.

– Admitted skilled workers ONLY; believed that “skill” is

hard to replace, and would become a powerful Union.

Taming the Spoils System

■ Spoils System: a practice of rewarding political

supporters with government jobs.

■ 1881 James Garfield became President. People were

swamping the White House looking for jobs.

– After 4 months he was shot by an angry person who

was not granted a job by Garfield.

– Chester Arthur became President, he then signed in

the Pendleton Act, which created the Civil Service

Commission.

– Civil Service: is a system that includes most

government jobs, except elected positions, the

judiciary and the military.

Teddy Roosevelt and Big Business

■ He had the reputation for being

a trustbuster: a person working

to destroy monopolies and

trusts.

■ He liked big business, but he

thought there was a difference

between “good and bad

trusts.”

– Good Trust: efficient and

fair

– Bad Trust: took advantage

of workers and eliminated

competition.

THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION

Section 3: Growth of

Major Cities & Corruption

Rapid Growth of Cities

Growing Up and Out

Urbanization: rapid growth of city populations.

■ New types of technologies helped cities grow.

– Elevated trains

– Electric streetcar system opened up in Virginia.

– Electric subway trains were running beneath Boston.

– Public transportation started suburbs.

■ The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 linked

Manhattan to Brooklyn.

■ Cities were pushing upwards

– 1885 architects in Chicago built a the first 10 story

building.

Problems of Urban Life■ Rapid urbanization caused a lot of problems.

– Fire in tightly packed neighborhoods.

– 1871 great Chicago Fire….leveled 3 square blocks of downtown, killed 300 people and left 18,000 people homeless.

Tenement Life ■ Downtown slums and poor conditions.

■ Tenements: buildings divided into many tiny apartments.

■ Apartments didn’t have heat, windows or plumbing.

■ These streets were considered “Slums” and were littered with garbage.

– Outbreaks of diseases was common…..harder for children and babies to not get sick or survive.

Political Corruption in Cities

■ Because cities were growing, they needed to expand

services for the people.

– Politicians were accepting money to award these jobs

to friends.

■ Powerful Politicians were called “Bosses”

– They controlled local work and would ask for payoffs

(bribes) from businesses.

■ In order to get votes from the poor class, they would hand

out turkeys on Thanksgiving and coal during the winter.

■ William Tweed “Boss Tweed” during the 1860’s and 1870’s

he cheated New York out of more than $100 Million.

THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION

Section 4: New Culture…..

“Education, Immigrants and

Roles of Women”

Writing Activity ■ (1) I want you to write your first reaction to the 2

pictures that I will show in a few minutes…..

■ What do you see?

■ Do you think this is a positive or a negative

representation of immigration?

■ (2) How hard or easy (you pick) do you think it was

for immigrants to come to this country in the

1900’s?

■ (3) How do you think people already living in

American “saw” immigrants coming to New York,

Chicago, Boston and San Francisco in the 1900’s?

Starting a New Life■ Immigrants came to America on boats that were packed to the

brim.

■ Packed in so tightly that there wasn’t enough air and diseases

spread quickly….often would be in the “steerage” areas where

cattle were placed.

■ Most people coming from Europe were landing in New York through

Ellis Island.

Immigrant Neighborhoods

■ 2/3rds migrated to the cities and close to people from the same

country.

■ “Ethnic Neighborhoods” helped people feel like they were at home.

Assimilation

■ Immigrants were working hard to “fit in” to their new home.

“The Dream” was to educate their children so that the next

generation could be better off.

■ Assimilation: the process of becoming part of another

culture.

New Wave of Nativism■ 1840’s because immigration was so high, it led to what is

called Nativism….Nativists were trying to preserve the U.S.

for native-born American citizens.

■ Nativists thought that immigrants were violent…

– Anarchist: a person who opposes all forms of

government.

Educating Americans

■ 1870 less than half of American children were going to

school. Students were often all in one room, with multiple

ages of students and one teacher.

Education Expands

■ Compulsory Education: is the requirement that children

attend school up to a certain age.

■ By 1918 every state required children to attend school.

■ Realists: writers who try to show life as it is.

– They would tend to highlight how harsh life is.

Women Win the Vote■ 1848 spawned the Women’s Rights movement in the

United States.

■ Susan B. Anthony formed the National Women Suffrage

Association.

■ Early 1900’s support for women’s suffrage grew. More

than 5 million women had jobs outside of the home.

– Suffragists: people who worked for women’s right to

vote.

■ 1919 Congress passed the 19th Amendment guaranteeing

women the right to vote.

THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION

Section 5: “Progressive

President & Political Reforms”

Constitutional Amendments

■ Progressive reformers supported a graduated income tax.

– Graduated Income Tax: method of taxation that taxes

people at different rates depending on income.

■ The wealthy pay taxes at a higher rate than the poor or

the middle class.

– Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional.

– Progressives supported an amendment.

■ 16th Amendment….. Congress has the power to

pass an income tax, ratified in 1913.

1st Progressive President

■ September 1901 President William McKinley was at the world fair in NY. He was shot and died 8 days later…..Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became president.

Conserving Natural Resources

■ Roosevelt wanted to protect the countries wilderness areas.

– Conservation: protection of natural resources

■ Roosevelt thought that natural resources should be used wisely, so the U.S. Forest Service was formed in 1905.

– This would help conserve the nation’s woodlands and would set aside thousands of acres for national parks.

– National Park: natural area protected and managed by the federal government.

Protecting Consumers ■ Roosevelt also wanted to protect consumers.

– Upton Sinclair “The Jungle” shocked Roosevelt.

■ He made a report exposing unhealthy conditions in

meatpacking plants.

■ Congress passed a law in 1906 that allowed for closer

inspections of meatpacking houses.

■ Congress also passed the Pure Food and Drug Act.

– Required that all food and drug makers to list all the

ingredients on packages.

Taft & Wilson ■ Roosevelt didn’t want to run for president again in 1908.

– William Howard Taft became the next president.

■ Taft was quiet and cautious and was wary of power.

■ Taft was a progressive…

– he broke up more trusts

– approved new safety rules

– approved an eight hour work day

■ 1909 he signed a bill that raised most tariffs.

– Progressives said that high tariffs raised prices for

consumers, which was NOT considered “progressive”

Election of 1912■ Roosevelt had broken with Taft and decided to run for the

Republican nomination.

■ The Republican candidate went to Taft

■ Roosevelt then set up a new party called The Progressive

Party (Republican)

■ Democrats chose Woodrow Wilson.

■ THE RESULT…..

– Taft & Roosevelt won more votes than Wilson.

– BUT the Republican ticket was split between Taft and

Roosevelt and thus Wilson won the 1912 election.